Former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter has begun his job as director of Colorado State University’s Center for the New Energy Economy.

Ritter on Tuesday — his first day of employment — represented the center at meetings out of state, university spokesman Brad Bohlander said. Bohlander didn’t know the location of the meetings.

CSU provided a job description for Ritter’s position, which is being financed for three years by foundations, including that belonging to medical-device heiress Patricia Stryker, a Fort Collins resident and a prominent player in Colorado politics.

Ritter decided against running for re-election in 2010. Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, won a three-way race for governor in November and was sworn in in January.

Job Description
Director of The Center for the New Energy Economy and Senior Scholar at Colorado State University

Colorado State University is a world research leader in engineering clean and alternative energy solutions that promote environmental sustainability and economic growth. The School of Global Environmental Sustainability (SoGES) has been established as an umbrella organization at Colorado State to develop and promote new strategies for global sustainability that address environmental challenges and inform solutions to global environmental problems.

Within SoGES, The Center for the New Energy Economy will serve as a national leader in facilitating science-based policy, research, and education to support the growth of the new energy economy in Colorado, the nation, and the world. The Director of the Center for the New Energy Economy will be a person of state and national prominence, capable of convening and facilitating discussions among policy makers, scientists, public and private organizations, and the academic community to advance the Center’s agenda and mission and drive progress toward effective policy solutions.

The Center Director will:
• Direct and oversee the development of The Center for the New Energy Economy, working with internal and external partners to clearly define its mission, scope, and a five-year strategic plan.
• Identify and pursue opportunities for The Center to lead and participate in productive public policy discussions and debates related to clean-energy policy and the growth of the new energy economy.
• Build and promote the Center as a vital, credible source of unbiased, science-based information, data, and research on clean energy policy and its economic impacts.
• Facilitate discussion and collaboration among Colorado State faculty members of various disciplines regarding energy research and policy.
• Engage other universities and private sector partners in the Center’s mission and activities.
• Actively engage donors in support of an endowment required to sustain the Center after its first three years of operation.
• Serve as an ambassador for the University and SoGES in state, national, and international discussions related to energy policy.
• Interact with students as a teacher and mentor, including the possibility of team-teaching courses in areas relevant to the Center’s mission.
• Serve as a prominent, informed voice representing the University’s environmental and energy policy expertise in public forums, media interviews, publications, testimony, speaking engagements, and other appropriate venues.

This position requires a terminal degree and significant, widely recognized experience and expertise leading clean-energy policy discussions in the public arena. It will report to the director of SoGES and work in partnership with SoGES and its programs to advance the mission and goals of both SoGES and The Center for the New Energy Economy.